Education in Times of COVID-19

Abstract

AbstractThe COVID-19 policies in the education sector have been particularly diverse, often with distinct approaches adopted not only across Europe but even at the regional level within one country, for example, in Spain or Germany. Furthermore, there has been a wide range of measures depending on the level of education. While universities largely switched to online learning, nursery and primary schools that initially also faced restrictions on face-to-face learning became crucial in providing support to parents working from home in the later stage of the pandemic. School closures during the lockdown periods largely disrupted education, leading to potential long-term consequences for children and increasing existing educational inequalities. Emerging research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector has shown that suspension of in-person learning has contributed to learning loss, exacerbating achievement gaps in several European countries and negatively impacted students’ well-being. At the same time, the switch to distance learning accelerated the digitalisation of education institutions and education systems across Europe, amplifying economic disparities across the countries. With digital learning becoming the dominant policy measure, supranational actors, such as the EU and the UN intensified competition for global education governance, proposing own policy solutions. This chapter discusses differences and similarities in education policy measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the countries of the European Economic Area and the role of supranational actors. It explores the country-level factors that influenced the policymaking process, such as economy, ideological stances of the government, level of education governance within the country, contrasting them with the COVID-19-related developments, such as the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Thus, it aims at providing an in-depth comparative examination of the emergency policymaking in the field of education during the COVID-19 pandemic.